Id hate to see the stock pile of weapons and tanks and armoured vehicles they have hidden under ground just waiting to experiment on blowing us up. They are just not stable over there. This isn't self defence missiles this is used to attack countries, i don't think this world has many decades left, mankind will probably blow himself up.

That's just it, they can't take on the US. It takes them a week + to put the rocket on the platform and fuel it up..... surprise strike anyone, I don't think they are anywhere close to actually getting a nuke on top of said missile yet either.

The biggest issue is that Seoul is so bloody close to the border, NK could do a lot of damage with conventional weapons and I don't think a massive pre-emptive strike by the US would go down well either.

There is talk that the US may deploy their THAAD anti missile system in South Korea, China has objected to this in the past and this in itself would be seen as huge provocation by the North and probably China.

Reality is that the world is waiting to see what China does as they have been the stalemate at the UN on many occasions when it comes to the DPRK.

That's probably the biggest issue with North Korea - its proximity to China and the "alliance" between the two.

A few years ago, after Tianinmen Square, it seemed as though China might be coming around to becoming part of the world community and divorcing itself somewhat from its former hard-line Communist regime. However, recent developments in the South China Sea, where China is actively reclaiming land to expand a number of disputed islands, in the name of "national security" (from whom eludes me as no-one is threatening them) tends to indicate that the hard-liners are still in power. Whilst their brand of communism is still a bit softer than times past, it remains the driving force.

North Korea has to be the hardest-line Communist nation on earth and it comes across as a psychotic, paranoid nation that sees enemies around every corner and wants to protect itself against countries like the US who frankly, couldn't give a continental about the country if it wasn't so bloody militant. If North Korea could just behave like any other "normal" nation, I doubt any other country would care about them,(South Korea excepted) - it's just that they are so unpredictable and paranoid about the rest of us that we worry about what they might do next.

If NK did act stupidly and other nations retaliated, how would China react? Big question and one that probably is more worrying than what NK might do next.

NK has medium range missiles good enough to reach Japan and Taiwan as well as anywhere in SK. Japan has the PAC3 and possibly THAAD anti missile systems as well as US naval ships in area with the Aegis system and between those 3 systems it's a fairly formidable anti missile shield.

China is interesting, they are now actively working towards projecting force, a capacity they have never had and never really been interested in till recently. It seems they want to come and play on the world map. By reclaiming land they effectively (trying to) create a larger territorial zone. The US navy send a destroyer near by those islands recently just to let the Chinese know that they don't accept their (Chinese) claim.....

China also claim Taiwan as their own.

The interesting bit is that they are still technically at war, the US will not walk away until it is settled either way.

That is the million dollar question when it comes to sabre rattling from rogue nations like this.

At the end of the day China doesn't want a US ally on one of their borders so I think China could very well intervene should armed conflict break out on the peninsula. It is abundantly clear that should NK start a genuine armed conflict with south the US would be in boots and all. The question would then be do they try and march right to the Chinese border or only take a few miles and then create a larger demilitarised zone and go back to another armistice like we currently have.

If NK did act stupidly and other nations retaliated, how would China react? Big question and one that probably is more worrying than what NK might do next.

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I think China has bigger plans their naval expansion and land reclaimation with Air Force outposts is worrying. China has been publicly scalding North Korea for a while but at the same time trading with them on the quiet despite trade sanctions. So to me, they want to appear to be distant, but at the same time want to keep a friendship going.

If North Korea played its hand as it stands now, I think China would just cut ties. It doesnt want to be dragged into anything just yet, it simply doesnt have the resources, sure, it has 2 million ground troops but their Navy and Air Force just cant compete.

If North Korea did anything, whilst China is still reclaiming land, they wouldnt have a choice but to let the US roll them and be unhappy about it. Japan has start re-militarizing under Abe, if North Korea does anything, theyll have South Korea, Japan and the US on their doorstep wthin hours.

The last thing China wants right now is for the North to force action. If they force action it means theyve got South Korea, US and Japan all occupying Chinese borders.

That is the million dollar question when it comes to sabre rattling from rogue nations like this.

At the end of the day China doesn't want a US ally on one of their borders so I think China could very well intervene should armed conflict break out on the peninsula. It is abundantly clear that should NK start a genuine armed conflict with south the US would be in boots and all. The question would then be do they try and march right to the Chinese border or only take a few miles and then create a larger demilitarised zone and go back to another armistice like we currently have.

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Actually, if china wanted to hit Sth korea financially , it would support a unified Korea, think the German unification, they're still paying the price

My concern with this latest rocket is that it overflew southern Japan and dumped into the sea.
It is of concern, but these people to many of us are morons, but in actual fact they are not. They have huge factories in NK and even manufacture motor vehicles etc. etc. Go figure??????